Tamale — At least six stores and a three-bedroom house in the old market of the Central Business District, in the Tamale Metropolis of the Northern Region, was on Wednesday afternoon gutted by fire.

It took personnel of the Northern Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), nearly three hours to quench the fire, which destroyed property worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) James Ankrah, the Regional Commander of the GNFS, led the 15-member team with four fire tenders to contain the blaze which started at around 12:00 pm.

Eye witnesses told the Ghanaian Times that smoke accompanied by flame from one of the stores, spread to the three bed-room and the rest of the stores in the same building.

The Northern Regional Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Assistant Divisional Officer (ADO II) Hudu Baba, briefing journalists, said firefighters were dispatched to the market following a distress call.

He said the GNFS personnel were at the scene on time with fire tenders to extinguish the fire, and that there were no casualties and the cause of the fire was yet to be established.

ADO Baba said the personnel had to rely on the only fire hydrant, adding that sometimes it was difficult for them to fill their fire tenders.

The PRO appealed for more hydrants from the authorities in the metropolis to facilitate operations of personnel.

Another eyewitness, Afa Musah Alidu, thanked the Regional Commander of the GNFS for acting swiftly to bring the fire under control.

He however, called on the public to support the GNFS with water tankers whenever such incidents occurred in the area.